Photographer's Note

Welcome to Apamea, an important desert trading post on the long trek from the Mediterranean to Central Asia. The remains, preserved by the dryness of the climate, are largely of Roman construction and cover a vast area. During Roman times, the city’s population numbered about half a million, of whom 380,000 or so were slaves. These elegant columns, which form part of the two-mile long main street, have spiral fluting, the direction of the fluting alternating with that on the next – this is a feature unique to Apamea. The projections you can see from a couple of the columns would have supported busts of eminent citizen, these long since lost, destroyed or carted off to museums.

As with most of the sites we visited in Syria, this was blissfully free of other visitors, and I shot the various columns from just about every angle. The atmosphere and the vastness of the place really blew me away.

Hi Susanna
Excellent perspective of the pillars. They are very sharp and the light is excellent too and I like the varied sky. Great that you managed to get this shot without tourists.
Have a nice day.
Nikki

Salut Susanna
It is a great picture of these columns! The light is very nice and the sky behind really beautiful. I just regret that the first column on the right is not completly include in the photo. But anyway this a very beautiful shot!
Cheers
Quentin

Hi Susanna,
Excellently focused shot from a perfect PoV to show these ruins in all their splendour. The backdrop of the blue sky and grey clouds offset the detail in the stone and the white border finishes it all off nicely. Super colours and sharpness and good to see it all alone without people in the way! Well done. Best wishes, Vicky

Excellent photo of the ruins, Susanna - expert tech on this one, and good comprehensive framing. The light and contrasts are tops, and the vivid sky makes a fine canvas for the old columns to still echo their old-time splendor. Very nice.